Despite the optimism surrounding the potential dividends from India’s youth population, demographic ageing is underway. All but five of India’s 28 states have fertility rates below replacement levels, with the share of older adults growing faster than all other age cohorts. However, existing policies, laws, and schemes targeting older adults have fallen short. Poor drafting, limited implementation, and a disproportionate focus on youth needs have hindered their effectiveness. As India continues its demographic shift, addressing the issues of older adults is becoming increasingly urgent. This brief examines India’s current laws and schemes designed to support older adults, evaluating their focus and effectiveness to assess the government’s strategy on demographic ageing. It concludes with an analysis of political will, assessing electoral promises from the 2024 general election and retirement policies as a proxy for political parties’ perspectives on demographic ageing, and discusses their short- and long-term policy implications.

PREMIUM